


Back Up Again

by Parks and Fluff (GamblingDementor)



Series: Parks and Rec AU [4]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Bisexual Angelica, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Gen, Growing Up, It's mostly about the sisters growing up together and learning more about themselves, Lesbian Peggy, Love, Platonic Relationships, Siblings, Sisters, The romantic aspect isn't the main focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 22:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7139201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamblingDementor/pseuds/Parks%20and%20Fluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hercules talks less than the others, but he smiles a lot, and Maria likes his hat and his beard and his shirt. Maybe this is the champagne talking, but she thinks he’s really cute.</p>
<p>Sequel to Honorary Schuyler Sister, AU where Maria wasn't rescued from James Reynolds by A.Ham but by the Schuyler Sisters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back Up Again

**Author's Note:**

> Please read Honorary Schuyler Sister before you read this fic, because it is its direct sequel. Maria has been adopted as a Schuyler sister by the trio and they live together. This fic happens maybe one year later.

The apartment is all ready, balloons and banners and snacks and more cupcakes than Maria thought she could bake in one day − and more than a fair amount of booze. The valuables have been stored away, the kitchen counters cleared to make room for the presents, Eliza’s boyfriend confirmed he got the cake (Maria has the feeling that Alexander really would try _anything_ to impress her family), the sleeping bags are out in case some people want to stay the night, the neighbors have been warned. There is virtually nothing more left to do for Angelica’s birthday party, and just on time too. Everyone is going to be arriving soon.

 

“Do you think she’ll like it? The party?” Maria wonders.

 

Mouth full of chips, Peggy shrugs.

 

“She has to, ‘cause it’s her birthday, so she can’t just leave if she doesn’t.”

 

Maria smiles, though she’s still secretly really hoping Angelica isn’t disappointed. Peggy pats her shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry, sis, she’ll love it.”

 

Thankfully, Maria is left with no time to persuade herself that the party will be awful because half their college starts flooding into their apartment the very next moment and through the night and she can’t deny that the party actually is a success.

 

“Is this the best party ever or what?!” Alexander shouts to her through the music − it isn’t that deafening, he just likes being loud.

 

“It’s great!”

 

Maria is not much for parties in general, but Angelica thrives on being surrounded by people, and seeing her happy, sauntering around the room and chatting with everyone makes Maria happy. Next to her, Alexander is nursing the same beer Peggy thrust into his hands hours ago. Maria has had a few cups of champagne and is feeling a little bit buzzed, though she hasn’t drunk as much as Peggy, but a party girl like Peggy knows how to handle her booze. A couple of dudes walk by them and Alex physically grabs them to stop them from going any further.

 

“You guys! Have you met Betsey’s sisters yet?”

 

The two men were chatting together, but the second they see Alexander they break into a grin and pull him into a forced threeway hug.

 

“Hey, li’l buddy, long time no see!”

 

Alexander snorts and punches the guy’s shoulder playfully.

 

“Herc, John, Maria and Peggy, Betsey’s younger sisters. Maria, Peggy, this is my roommate Hercules and my best friend John.”

 

The so-called Hercules, tall and all clad in black, puts his hand on his heart, faking shock.

 

“And _I’m_ not your best friend?”

 

“He picked the best,” Laurens snickers.

 

It degenerates into a conversation between the three that reeks of them being a little less than sober. Peggy chimes in the first occasion she has, as she does, but Maria is content to just watch and sip another cup of champagne. Alexander looks funny when he gets all excited, John has dorky freckles and nice hair, but Hercules… she finds him special. He talks less than the others (though that could be said of pretty much anyone − Alexander is very much a blabbermouth), but he smiles a lot, and she likes his hat and his beard and his shirt. Maybe this is the champagne talking, but she thinks he’s _really_ cute. Actually, she tells herself and feels her cheeks getting even warmer than they were before, she might even think he’s _hot_. He turns to her and says something that her brain doesn’t register, and she just stares at him feeling stupid but at the same time refusing to look away.

 

“Your nose looks cute,” she blurts out and crumbles inside of embarrassment when she realizes the words actually left her mouth.

 

Hercules’s eyes widen, but he’s smiling and he touches his nose as if to check what is special about it. Maria finds that gesture even cuter and she wants to take that step towards him and see if he gives good hugs because he looks like he does, but before she can do any such thing, Peggy is grabbing her waist and pulling her away.

 

“Ooooookay, this is Maria’s bedtime, y’all. C’mon, Mary, let’s get you lying down.”

 

Maria doesn’t resist her. She lets Peggy get her to their room, out of her dress and into bed, and after a goodnight hug, she even agrees to sleep as she’s asked. Peggy kisses her forehead.

 

“That was awesome,” she whispers against her ear, “and I want to be there every single time you flirt with anyone ever in the future.”

 

“M’kay,” Maria mumbles and her limbs and head and eyelids suddenly feel much heavier than they were before.

 

Sleep is already overtaking her when she takes in what Peggy just said − she’s just _flirted_ with someone. She tries to recall the last time that happened and her mind comes up with nothing but blank. Before James, that is sure. _I guess things_ can _change after all._  


 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

Of their sisterhood, Angelica has always prided herself, and rightfully so, in being the best matchmaker. She’ll repeat to anyone that would hear that she was the one who introduced Alexander to Betsey and _look at them now, so in love they’re almost gross if this wasn’t her_. She technically _did_ introduce Thomas and Cosway as well, although everyone knows how _that_ particular relationship ended.

 

Peggy certainly can’t claim to have her people skills − she has yet to help pretty much anyone find love, not to mention help herself. She can’t be worse than Eliza, though, sweet Eliza who tried and tried introducing her to the funniest, smartest guys, before Peggy took pity on her, braced herself and came out to her sisters. Somehow Eliza has the poorest gaydar on earth and there hasn’t been any funny smart gay girl introduced to her yet. And Maria is in no better position to claim the title of best matchmaker, since she came into their lives at a moment where Eliza and Angelica didn’t need any help being set up (Angelica having been with Cos for over a year and Eliza not looking for anyone in particular − Alex barged his way into her life completely unexpected for either of them) and Peggy had little desire to settle in, then or ever.

 

Who would have thought that out of all their loved ones, _Alex_ would be the one to introduce Maria to the future love of her life in the person of Hercules Mulligan?

 

Not that Alexander is aware of that fact. He has better things to do than get involved in Maria’s life. He’s far too busy spending most of his waking time either writing essays for his too many classes, or inviting Eliza to his apartment where she finds herself significantly less dressed than Peggy likes to think about when it comes to sweet, innocent Eliza (there was an _incident_ which led to Eliza not talking to her for a week, though more out of shame than anger, and to Peggy never again touching anyone’s phone without asking). Eliza, accordingly, hasn’t noticed a thing either, but Peggy knows what’s going on.

 

It starts innocently enough, with Maria getting invited to hang out with Eliza and Alex’s squad. Not nearly suspicious enough to make Peggy bat an eye: she has been invited as well on many occasions. But when someone asks _Peggy_ how the night went when she goes out with them, she definitely doesn’t only talk about what Hercules said or did and her eyes don’t sparkle like a freaking anime character. She’s not entirely sure that Maria realizes she’s like this, at least not at first.

 

But then, the one-on-one hangouts start happening (or, as Peggy calls them, the _dates_ ) and she can’t be that oblivious to her own feelings, can she? One night, she comes home with pink cheeks and a grin that just won’t quit (they’re proud of her for that, by the way, for going out on her own and having a new set of friends independently from them, for _living_ ).

 

“Hey,” she greets Peggy as she takes off her coat and drops the keys in the bowl near the door. Her voice is so merry it makes Peggy want to pinch her cheeks.

 

“Hey yourself,” Peggy replies. “Is Eliza still with the squad?”

 

“Oh, I wasn’t with the squad, it was just me and Hercules.”

 

If she notices Peggy’s smirk, she doesn’t let it show. She just drops onto the couch next to her to give her a hug (and that as well has been a learning curve for Maria, who had grown used to her affection getting rebuked), then takes off her shoes and her bra, looking exhausted.

 

“I’ve talked enough tonight to stay silent for the next week,” she jokes. “I should go to bed.”

 

“Want me to do your hair?”

 

“Thanks, but I’ll just go to sleep right now, I’m so tired.”

 

And she leaves Peggy to wonder when their Maria changed right before their eyes without them even noticing.

 

These not-quite-dates-yet-but-very-soon-to-be become such a regular occurrence that Peggy stops even asking where Maria was when she comes home. She knows what the answer will be. _Having tea with Hercules. Hercules and I went roller-blading. Hercules took me to see this new movie. Hercules drove us out of town for a hike in the national park. Hercules helped me organize a book exchange at the elementary school. Hercules treated me to a day at a theme park._ More and more, it becomes Hercules _this_ and Hercules _that_. Peggy doesn’t comment on it, mostly because she sees how much happier Maria seems since they starting hanging out together, and also because she wouldn’t want to break Maria’s groove and make her feel embarrassed about her obviously budding relationship.

 

Angelica, on the other hand, has no such qualms.

 

“Have a nice date!” She calls out to Maria when she’s about to go out on a Sunday morning (and really, how head over heels must she be to go out _on a Sunday morning_?).

 

Maria stops dead in her tracks and stares at Angelica dumbfounded, mouth gaping, before she gets a hold of herself and frowns.

 

“It’s not a date!”

 

“Call it whatever you want, sweetie,” Angelica says without looking up from the book she’s reading, turning a page. She feigns indifference but Peggy is convinced that she has been waiting for the right opportunity to pounce on Maria about it since the beginning. For her part, Maria has gone red in the face and Peggy doesn’t know which is funnier to watch, her embarrassment or Angelica’s knowing smirk.

 

“It’s not! We’re just… Herc and I are gonna feed the birds at the park, it’s not… It’s a friends thing, we’re friends!”

 

“Mmh,” Angelica hums knowingly. “He’s “Herc” now, is he?”

 

Peggy hates it when Angelica does that to her, but somehow, seeing Maria fall victim to Angelica’s sisterly omniscience is hilarious.

 

“It’s not a date!” She repeats, firmly, as if that settled the issue.

 

She looks like she wants to say more, but her phone buzzes and she looks at it, smiles at whatever Hercules must have sent her, and notices the time. With a last “Not a date!”, she dashes out. Not two minutes later, Eliza walks through the same door, still beaming from her night at Alexander’s.

 

“I just walked past Maria in the hall, she looked troubled. Did Hercules cancel their date or something?”

 

Peggy bursts out laughing. If even Eliza, who can be blessingly oblivious sometimes, noticed this, then Maria won’t be able to deny it much longer.

 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

To no one’s surprise, Eliza is the first one to move out. Alexander and her announce it like a big surprise, him ecstatic, her apologetic, and they give the Schuyler sisters and Hercules a month to get used to the idea of their sister and roommate leaving this part of their lives.

 

Yet a month later, none of them are ready for this.

 

“I don’t wanna let you go, I wanna hold you forever and never let you go,” Angelica moans as she hugs Eliza for what seems like the hundredth time since they arrived at Alexander’s to help him pack.

 

“It’s just a ten minute walk from you gals,” Eliza says but she hugs Angelica just as tight all the same. “And you are _all_ invited any time.”

 

She looks each of them in the eyes to prove how much she means it, not that anyone would doubt it. Packing Alexander’s belongings is harder than they initially thought. For one, they’re spread all over the small apartment he shares with Herc, and not just his room. Also, he insists on sorting and labeling everything that he’ll take with him before putting it in boxes, and he keeps thanking all of them for helping instead of actually doing the packing.

 

By the end of the day, they have managed it all: everything is tight and compact, squeezed onto the back of Herc’s pick-up truck with so little room left that only Eliza and Alexander get to ride it to their new place. They insist on inviting everyone to a house-warming party, and technically they might need help with unpacking, but the others insist on giving them their privacy for their very first night together in their own place. Alexander promises he’ll bring the car back the next day, Eliza gives everyone ten hugs each and begs them to call and text her every hour of the day, and just like that, they’re gone.

 

“Well, that was that,” Peggy says sadly.

 

“If you’ll excuse me,” Angelica says with a smile that looks forced, “I’m going home and drinking a bottle of wine while crying and trying not to call Eliza too soon. Pegs, Maria?”

 

Peggy glances at Maria and opens her mouth to say something, but Herc interrupts.

 

“You ladies can stay if you want. There’s beer or soda in the fridge, we can order pizza?”

 

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Peggy says at once. “Thanks for the offer though.”

 

She grabs Angelica’s hand and they get ready to leave the apartment.

 

“Maria?”

 

Maria feels lost, and not just because the woman she considers her closest confident and her sister is now gone from their every day life. She feels like she might be intruding, somehow. She _knows_ now that Angelica, Eliza and Peggy care about her, that she’s a part of all this, that she’s allowed to miss Eliza, but still, it doesn’t erase the twenty-some years Eliza spent with just her two sisters. If they knew she was feeling this way, they would probably tell her she’s being silly, but Maria wants to give Peggy and Angelica some time to deal with this on their own.

 

“Pizza sounds nice,” she says and Angelica and Peggy hug her goodbye.

 

Beside the fact that it gives them time for themselves, the born Schuyler sisters, Maria also has to admit that hanging out with Hercules has become one of the most soothing pleasures in her life. There is something calming about him. Maybe it’s his warm black eyes that always look friendly, maybe it’s how he looks like he could take out three men on his own without breaking a sweat but he’s only ever kind and gentle with his friends, maybe it’s the fact that she feels so safe in his presence like never before. It’s probably all that and more. Hercules is special.

 

“So,” he asks when they’re slouched on his couch with her favorite sort of pizza that he ordered and some 90s rap in the background (the CDs he managed to salvage from Alexander’s grasp). “We’re both in the same boat, huh?”

 

She looks around the room at all the emptiness that Alexander used to fill. She is in no hurry to go home and witness the same void Eliza left behind.

 

“At least they’re happy together, right?”

 

She tries to see the positive, she must. That is what Eliza always tells her to, actually. She can already see one happy side effect of the little couple of turtle doves building their own nest: she might get to hang out at Herc’s more often. They’ve rarely met up at their respective homes because his place was filled with Alexander’s loudness and hers was not an option at all considering the official version of her relationship with him is that there is no romantic element to it whatsoever and bringing him home might stretch the established version a little bit.

 

Maria isn’t daft, she knows what things look like. She also knows her own heart and she is perfectly aware that the flame that was lit that night she met him hasn’t been put out just yet − rather it’s fanned by moments like these, by every moment they share, really. Every time Herc makes her smile or laugh, every silly selfie they take together, every day they spend out somewhere, having fun, every moment makes her trust him a little more, makes her believe that he’s _different_.

 

The plain old truth that she’s admitted to herself but won’t tell her sisters, lest they worry for nothing, is that she’s been afraid. She knows deep down in her heart that Herc is a good person, a good man, she feels safe with him in a way she hasn’t felt with any guy for years, maybe ever, but is that knowledge enough against the fears that repeat James’s words whenever she dares to hope for love again? The fears are getting more tame every day as her feelings for Hercules grow, but she can’t help believing that she should feel absolutely and completely safe with him before embarking on that next chapter of life, shouldn’t she? Not to mention that she still doesn’t know for a fact that her feelings are reciprocated.

 

A hand passes in front of her eyes and she realizes she was zoning out, deep in thought at Herc’s place − so much for being a good guest.

 

“You good?” He asks.

 

She twirls a loose curl of hair awkwardly to keep herself from doing something impulsive like grabbing his hand, or worse, his head to bring it down to hers, because sometimes it seems to her it’s all she wishes to do these days despite her better judgment.

 

“I’m fine. Thanks.”

 

“Well, I’m here if you need support from a fellow member of the Alex and Eliza’s ex-roommates’ club,” he jokes. “Binge eating, ranting, hugs, whatever you might need.”

 

“A hug would be nice,” she hears herself say.

 

As he wraps his (big, firm, nice looking, warm) arms around her and brings her close to him, she breathes in, out, relaxes, and realizes that the pieces are falling together now. She _does_ feel completely safe around him. How could she not? She’s alone at night at a guy’s place, she’s hugging him and she feels absolutely safe. So if she’s reached that level of comfort around him, what’s stopping her?

 

When they break apart (after a long time, and rather reluctantly as far as she’s concerned), and his eyes are so gentle on hers, she wonders if maybe it wouldn’t be destiny that she opens a new chapter of her life the same day Eliza does in hers. Wouldn’t that be something to remember? Herc’s arms are still loosely around her, and he is just within reach. If she tipped her head up just so, he would get the message and… She closes her eyes and is about to lean up, her heart drumming inside her chest, and she feels his hands tighten on her waist when fatally, like a trumpet of doom, her phone buzzes loud and clear, impossible to ignore.

 

Herc immediately scoots back to his side of the couch and grabs another slice of pizza, feigning not to be bothered (she wonders if he really doesn’t care), while she tries to take in what the hell just happened. She so wants to ignore her phone and get these arms back around her, and make out for the first time since _forever_ ago, but Peggy asked her to always answer her phone so they can know she’s safe, so she takes the call.

 

“What?!”

 

From where he is, Herc snorts and almost chokes on his pizza at hearing her sounding so upset.

 

“Oh, erm…”

 

Eliza’s voice. She sounds hurt and Maria already regrets her frustrated tone.

 

“Sorry Eliza, I was just… erm… Sorry. What’s up?”

 

“I was just wondering how you gals were doing back home, but if this is a bad time, I can just…”

 

“I’m not home,” Maria interrupts.

 

“You’re not?”

 

“I’m at Herc’s.”

 

“You are? Oh… OH! Sorry, so sorry, I’ll call Angelica instead! Sorry, love you, bye!”

 

Herc and Maria stare at each other for what seems like forever when Eliza hangs up before either of them says anything.

 

“So…” She starts but has no idea what to add.

 

“So _that_ happened,” he says, smirking.

 

  
_No it didn’t_ , she thinks, _that’s the whole point_. She wants to say more, to take their moment back, but it’s gone now and she doesn’t know how to bring it back, and she is too nervous to mention what almost happened openly.

 

When she gets home (he offered to walk her but she took the bus − she needed time to gather her thoughts), Angelica and Peggy are sitting together in the living room, grinning mischievously. She doesn’t hear the end of it for _days_. At least it softened the blow of Eliza’s absence.

 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

“Do you _have_ to go?” Alex groans into Eliza’s hair.

 

“You know I can’t bail on my sisters,” she replies, but makes no move whatsoever to get out of his loving arms. This, maybe, is the best thing about living with Alexander, the fact that they can share a bed and stay in it however long they want. The worst thing is that she misses her sisters sorely and can’t just wake up and start talking to them like they used to do. Which is why, as much as she hates it, she has to abandon the warm embrace of her soulmate, get ready, and face the chill of Saturday mornings. The city is still full of students who were partying and are just now walking home − in a way Eliza is walking home, too.

 

“Eliza, thank god!” Angelica sighs the second Eliza opens the door (they’ve exchanged spare keys between everyone so the separation is smoother to handle if they can just barge in when they miss each other too much).

 

“Thank god? What’s happening?”

 

“You almost missed it,” Maria says. “Angelica’s big news.”

 

“What? No, she called me last week.”

 

And what big news it was, learning that her big sister passed all her exams with flying colors − no one in the family expected any different from the smartest sister they have, but the actual confirmation was still cause for celebration.

 

“Nah, she’s got something else, but she wouldn’t tell us until you got here,” Peggy pouts.

 

“Well, Eliza’s here, so you can stop that face right now, sweetheart.”

 

Angelica makes them sit on the couch, all lined up, and she paces around a little bit before taking a big breath and ending their calvary.

 

“You know how they were very happy with us interns in that campaign in DC…” She starts.

 

“Oh my god, you’re running for President!” Peggy shouts.

 

“Peggy, Angelica isn’t running for President,” Eliza _tssk_ s. “… Are you?”

 

Angelica rolls her eyes in that way she’s perfected over the years.

 

“No, but you’re not all that far.”

 

“Well, tell us then!”

 

“Well…” She pauses for dramatic effect. Peggy is on the edge of the seat, Maria and Eliza glance at each other and smile. “There’s a local committee watching for people who they think might have potential for office. They were impressed by my grades and looked more into my past projects, and they really liked our work for the Congress campaign and there’s a confluence of agreeable circumstances…”

 

“JUST TELL US!” Peggy shouts.

 

“Thomas and I are running for City Council.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Oh my god!”

 

“No way!”

 

There is a sudden pounce on Angelica, who finds herself at the center of all the attention. Eliza has rarely felt so proud. Angelica explains it all, how the sitting City Council is turning out to be a disappointment and the polls suggest the citizens are asking for fresh ideas and new faces, and how two young people running together instead of as opponents might make the public vote in pack for the both of them… Eliza wonders how awkward it will be for Angelica to run with her ex, not to mention her girlfriend’s ex, but then again, somehow Angelica considers Thomas a friend, even after all this, even with Thomas’s… overall personality. They’re still friends and they do amazing work together. This might well work out.

 

Even with Angelica a future politician, even with Eliza gone, all four of them grow up together, even now. Even if Eliza is missing out on a lot, she’s also gaining a different kind of joy in her own life that she shares with Alexander and she wouldn’t trade that for the world. She sees herself changing. She doesn’t mind it at all. Because Angelica may be a future City Councilor for now, and they may not meet up as often as they used to during the week because she’s busy with her campaign, but she hasn’t missed one Saturday gathering yet, and Eliza knows she won’t. Maria may be seeing more of Hercules, may be out in the world making all sorts of friends and forging her brand new path in life, but she’ll always be a part of their family and she’ll always fit in. Peggy may still be on the threshold of her life and struggling to find a real identity (and Eliza isn’t saying that because her sister is a lesbian, she knows better than that, Peggy’s fairly sure about that, which means all three of them are too − you can be gay and confused, but not confused about being gay), but she can count on her sisters to support whatever direction she decides to take.

 

It has been a big change, maybe more for her than for Alexander. Her dad is helping her out, but she doesn’t make money of her own yet, and since Alexander refuses to accept any hand-outs, they end up living some agitated life of being broke most of the time but getting by. His scholarship covers the college fees, but not much else, so he works as a freelance essay writers for other struggling students to pay for the rest. They make it all work.

 

As for his social life, she’s happy to be taking up a lot of it, but he also still sees his friends just as regularly as when he lived with Hercules. John Laurens and him have taken up badminton together and the whole squad go out together at least every week (and often as not Eliza and her sisters join them). And Hercules…

 

“Has Hercules found a new roommate yet?” She asks Alexander one night.

 

They’re lying on the couch, him on top of her with his head on her chest, her fingers combing through his hair, but at hearing her, he leans up on his elbows. She winces at the pressure on her sides − they usually just fall asleep cuddling like this, not moving till early morning.

 

“Not yet,” Alexander replies. “I think he’s avoiding it, so maybe later some day he can just ask…”

 

“Maria, yes.”

 

It’s the elephant in the room among their group that these two are pining for each other, except that elephant is so big everyone talks about it. Alexander noticed it before her and pointed it out, and she knows for a fact that Peggy and Angelica noticed it as well because they talk about it pretty much every time Maria is out of the house. Whether Maria and Hercules themselves know is another question.

 

“Poor Hercules, waiting around like that,” she says, playing with Alexander’s hair. “I wish she’d take the leap.”

 

“Well, the good thing is that she can take all the time she needs. I’m pretty sure Herc is gonna be into her in this life through the next. Do you want to be the top spoon?”

 

Eliza giggles.

 

“You know that top spoon and bottom spoon are not a thing,” she says, but she still pushes on his shoulders and sits up to take him on his offer.

 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

It happens. It _finally_ happens. It’s been weeks since Eliza moved out, since Maria and Herc had their first almost-kiss. There were other almost-occasions, but they were just as many missed moments, because either Maria bailed at the last moment out of nervousness, or they got interrupted. Hercules never presses her on, never insists on it happening, but it does eventually.

 

Since fate has tricked them before, she decides that build-up is overrated. They’re at Herc’s watching a movie he thought she might like (a cheap action flick that’s so bad it becomes good − she loves it) and an occasion presents itself as he leans towards her to grab some popcorn. It’s now or never. Or rather, now or some other time, but she really wants it to be now. She doesn’t want to wait any more for life to throw the perfect most romantic first kiss opportunity at them. In experience, that’s not how life has ever treated her so far, and that’s not how she’s going to have it. So she makes it happen.

 

He is just within her reach and she grabs his shoulders to pull him down and kisses him full on the mouth. The bowl clatters on the floor and all the popcorn spread out on the floor is going to be shit to clean up, but what is that when Herc’s mouth is warm against hers, when his hands are cupping her face so gently, when he’s answering this kiss with every last bit of passion to match hers. Maria feels her heart pounding in unison with his. When they break the kiss, she can’t bear any distance between them. They just stay as they are, breath warm, faces even warmer, foreheads touching. The silence wraps around them comfortably.

 

He leans in for an _encore._ On the TV in front of them, she remotely registers that they’ve missed the movie’s climax, but that’s another mishap she’s ready to let go of. They kiss and kiss and though she doesn’t regret having taken her time, she’s also relieved that the waiting is over now.

 

“You’re beautiful,” he whispers between kisses and how she loves his voice, just rough enough to be soothing in its way.

 

She hasn’t been used to responding to compliments from guys, not since _before_ , and even then, she already found it awkward.

 

“Your arms are hot,” she says and regrets it instantly.

 

It’s her luck that Herc seems to find that cute. Said arms wrap around her waist, pulling her close, and she feels all sorts of hot inside and out. She _doesn’t_ spend the night in the end, because there is only so much change she can handle in one night. Hercules walks her home and they can’t keep from smiling at each other. A few times, she glances down at their intertwined fingers, loves the way his darker skin looks against hers, loves the feel and the warmth of it. Her apartment building comes way too fast.

 

“Will I see you tomorrow?” He asks, bringing her hands to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

 

She feels a pang of excitement at the idea, just the prospect that her and Hercules are _something_ now, that this is a thing that’s going to keep being its thing, and she nods. She doesn’t quite trust herself to speak.

 

“Well then,” he grins and leans down to kiss her. Their lips are barely brushing when she hears the click of the door of her apartment and she jumps back, _thank god_ , before Angelica heads out into the hall where Herc and her are standing. Maria should know better than trusting that Angelica won’t notice the vibe, but she just smiles at them politely and goes on her merry way. Maria waits until she hears the front door open and close before grabbing Herc by the collar and pulling him down for one last kiss for the night − she won’t let weird happenstance prevent her from doing that whenever she wants anymore.

 

Peggy is working on her laptop on her top bunk when Maria gets home, her headphones on, and Maria is glad that she is barely paying attention because that means she can’t witness her dropping on the bed face first and grinning into her pillow like an idiot.

 

In the end, things still happen as Maria initially thought they would: her and a sister of hers turn a page of their lives together. Not Eliza, though. The week after she finally ( _finally_ ) kisses Hercules, Angelica gathers all three of her sisters on the couch and this time, the news are more bittersweet than when she announced her campaigning.

 

She’s moving out. She starts listing all the reasons (she’d like to live closer to work, Cosway and her are getting pretty serious, they found a little studio that’s just close enough from Cos’s gallery and still not far from City Hall, the lease has to be signed before the end of the month, she’s the oldest and she feels it’s time for her to live on her own…), apologizing every few words that come out of her mouth. She just _has_ to take the offer, she swears, and move forward with her own career at some point. She spends so much time giving all these excuses that she doesn’t even see how happy her sisters are for her.

 

Once it’s just them, Maria wonders if somehow, it doesn’t make sense that her and Peggy would be the ones left here. Peggy was here for her first when she was in need of a friend, she gave her the best push she needed to leave James and start living her own life again out in the¤world. It’s only natural she’d be there for Maria when she takes the next step, which is finding someone who really cares about her and who she likes spending time with.

 

Life with just Peggy is amazing. She does miss the talks with Eliza well into the night when they shared a room, she misses working in the same room as Angelica and almost hearing the gears turning in Angelica’s mind with the overflowing intelligence that she always radiates, she misses these nights all four of them would fall asleep on the couch, a tangle of limbs, but they gain something different. They change, and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

 

Peggy was never exactly the same person around three people than she one-on-one, but she grows even more now. She always had her quiet times when she was cuddly and sleepy and didn’t want to talk, just hug, but the Peggy who can just stay quiet all night was a rarer sight, the Peggy who isn’t _always_ snarky or excited, the Peggy who is afraid of nothing and can be reckless, but also knows when to be cautious, that Peggy becomes just Peggy. And the Maria from before, she’s changed too. She isn’t scared of speaking up or ashamed to have nice things or always keeping just to herself anymore… Except for one particular issue. Namely, she still hasn’t told her sisters about her boyfriend.

 

Technically, calling him her boyfriend is an assumption. They haven’t had the “relationship talk”, not yet. It’s been forty-three days since their first kiss, not that she’s been counting. They’re _something_ , for sure. It _feels_ like they’re dating. They hold hands, they do all sorts of things together, they eat off of each other’s forks when they’re eating out, they kiss… Boy, do they kiss. But just like she doesn’t know how to tell her sisters about this, whatever it is, she can’t bring herself to initiate a conversation with him that might end up breaking her heart. It probably wouldn’t, she is decently certain that they are, in fact, dating, but the thin chance is enough for her to put it off for later.

 

At this point, Maria has no idea why she still expects life to treat her as she planned it would. Everything, good or bad, has come as a complete surprise to her, mostly through accidents, and this is no different.

 

Ever since they’ve been down to two, Maria has started sleeping in Angelica’s old room most nights. At first, it felt disrespectful and unfamiliar, but the benefits soon became self-evident. Angelica’s room has the bigger bookshelves where Maria can fit all her books next to the ones Angelica left behind, her bed is basking in sunlight in the morning, which she loves, the room is smaller, but Maria prefers it that way because it’s also cozier, and above all, it allows both Peggy and Maria to have some sort of privacy should they need it.

 

Peggy is the one who starts making use of that privacy. Awkward at first, then more upfront when Maria assures her she doesn’t mind at all, Peggy brings back girls. Sometimes. Sometimes she spends the night out. Their rooms don’t share a wall and they’ve developed visual cues so Maria knows not to expect Peggy out of her room some nights. It works really well and Peggy is all the happier for it. When there were four of them, this wouldn’t have been possible, Maria tells herself. This is an improvement. And who is she to deny progress a place in her life? She might as well do the same.

 

It’s late at night and moonlight is flooding her room. She’s kept the lights out and closed the door. It’s raining outside but they changed as soon as they walked in and she’s warm enough here, in no small part thanks to Herc’s massive warm body under hers. His hands are grabbing her waist under her pajama top − she put them there. She’s sitting on top of him, admiring the view. His torso is bare (she didn’t have any shirt that fit him and his was just too wet from the downpour outside) and warm and she feels his heart beating under her fingers.

 

“Beautiful,” she whispers, trailing a finger down his chest, playing with the hair around his navel.

 

“What should I say about you?” He laughs, his hands tightening around her waist, thumbs stroking the sensitive skin.

 

“Tell me you’ll always be kind.”

 

He doesn’t even hesitate one second.

 

“Always.”

 

Tentatively, she grinds down her hips against his. He’s down to his boxers − he was hesitant because he can’t have missed that she hasn’t moved things forward yet for a reason, but nothing is immutable. Peggy said she was out for the night.

 

“Tell me you like me.”

 

“Are you kidding? I l… I like you a lot.”

 

“Good. Good.”

 

She bites her lip as she makes herself more comfortable on him. He’s getting hard, she feels it through her pajama shorts. Just barely, he bucks up against her, not nearly enough to be satisfying, but it’s a start, and she wants to take it slow.

 

“You like this?” She asks, more self-consciously than to try to establish any dominance at all.

 

His grin is melting through her heart when he nods.

 

“Good,” she repeats.

 

She leans down to kiss him. This is all comfortable, comforting. Tonight might be _the_ night.

 

Or it might not, because fuck her, but this is the moment her sweet sister chooses to materialize.

 

“Hey, Mary, I got stood up, do you have… OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY, OH MY GOD, I’M SORRY AND ALSO HAPPY FOR YOU, PLEASE DON’T MIND ME, Y’ALL JUST GET LAID!”

 

She dashes out of the room as quickly as she interrupted, before either of them can really register that they have been, once more, cut off in their tracks. They stare at each other dumbfounded. Herc is the first one to catch up and he wriggles his eyebrows at her. She snorts, but reluctantly disentangles herself from him. She is not really in the mood anymore, not with her sister right there.

 

She comes out of her room to Peggy firmly not looking at her.

 

“Pegs, I’m decent, you don’t have to look away.”

 

 “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I swear! Just, erm… congrats?”

 

“Thanks, mate,” Herc says from behind Maria as he locks his arms around her waist. He is still only wearing his boxers, she notices.

 

“How long… er… how long has this been a thing?”

 

Maria opens her mouth but Herc is faster.

 

“We’ve been dating for three months,” he says and this is probably the confirmation she needed. They _are_ dating.

 

Peggy rushes to hug them, wrapping her short arms around both of them as best as she can, and Maria is trapped between her arms and her _boyfriend_ Herc’s and there is frankly almost nowhere else she wants to be right now.

 

“Can I tell the girls?”

 

These two calls last vastly longer than they should. Between all the crying and cheering and laughing, she learns that Angelica knew since the beginning and Eliza suspected as much. All in all, the night turns out great, if for just one thing.

 

But that gets resolved the next day when Hercules and Maria make love for the first time at his place with _no_ interruption.

 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

No one is more surprised than Angelica when her and Thomas both win the elections. Thomas is being obnoxious about it and is constantly grabbing the mic for himself when they get double interviewed, but then, when has he ever _not_ done that? The night they get elected, he genuinely offers her and Cos a threeway to celebrate, as if the fact that both of them broke up with his ass in the past few years was a mere technicality and as if they weren’t in an exclusive relationship.

 

She adjusts to life as a City Councilor faster than she ever hoped for. She was _born_ for office, she tells herself. Sure, some of the citizens’ queries are pretty damn petty, but on the other hand, she’s changing things, she passes bills to help people, she’s being the best her she can be.

 

All that and finding time for Cosway and for her sisters and her parents − she’s very busy. A lunchdate with Cos here, a break from the Council with Peggy laughing at Thomas there, she tries to find time for the reading club with Maria and church with Eliza on a good week with not too much work, and still come home early to spend the night with her girlfriend. It takes organization, it takes dedication. It is all so worth it. Every time she gets a bill to pass, the pride is bursting in her heart and she tries to be the rolemodel she wishes she’d had as a child.

 

As for her and her sisters, they take turns hosting what has become the traditional Saturday-all-day-hangout, and it’ʂ a good thing it’s not always at the same spot because Angelica couldn’t pick her favorite for the life of her. She loves being the host and finding the perfect movie that everyone will love and serving all these vegan snacks Cos insists on buying. But she couldn’t live without meeting at Eliza’s house every few weeks, with Alexander interrupting them and anything they might be doing, from girl talk to shop talk, and warm cookies and green tea. But maybe what feels the most familiar is days such as today at their own old apartment. Maria baked heart-shaped cookies that Peggy has been downing two at a time and they’re _crocheting_ , of all things. Hercules got Maria into it, so naturally it’s all they do now when they’re all together at her place with her endless stash of yarn.

 

“What are you even making?” Peggy asks Maria suspiciously, snickering.

 

Maria shows off what looks like a really small sweater.

 

“Oh, Herc mentioned his hands were getting cold when he’s out on his bike, so I’m making him fingerless gloves.”

 

Eliza _awww_ s, her eyes all sparkly. She’s always down for a good romance, fictional or not. They have all been closely following the events of Maria and Hercules’ relationship and as far as Angelica is concerned, _awww_ is the right word.

 

“So it _is_ going well between you two?”

 

Maria gracefully gazes down at the gloves in her hands, tracing their shape as if picturing the hands that will fit them, and nods.

 

“How did you…” She starts but shakes her head to dismiss it.

 

Peggy chooses to nudge her (rather forcefully) to make her spit it out. Not Angelica’s favorite method, but it gets the job done as Maria rolls her eyes and goes on.

 

“How did you know you were in love?”

 

Eliza gasps with shock and awe and Peggy graces them with a toneless “whaaaaat”.

 

“Who is taking that one?” Angelica asks.

 

“I wouldn’t know,” Peggy shrugs. “Never happened to me.”

 

Eliza is looking out the window, deep in Alexander Land, so it’s up to Angelica. She clears her throat, very aware of Maria’s eyes on her. Memories of meeting Cosway and the way it all came to be are flooding her mind and she makes sense of it all.

 

“It just feels… warm, and comfortable. I’d known Cos for years, but I never thought…”

 

She remembers these days when it was just her and Cos as friends, as they thought they were at that time. She remembers being fascinated with the ink stains on Cos’s hands, observing her when she wasn’t looking and feeling embarrassed when she got caught, she remembers how smooth and natural it felt to tear down all the walls she kept up with everyone else, even with her sisters sometimes, she remembers a hot summer night Cos’s AC broke and they ate a whole bucket of ice cream just the two of them and Angelica felt so envious of the spoon, she remembers dating Thomas and never caring much for him and being so confused at how jealous she felt when he later dated Cosway… Falling in love had been nothing but pieces of a puzzle falling together until the whole picture was right in front of her, undeniable.

 

Peggy, Maria and now Eliza are staring at her and she realizes she hasn’t explained much of anything.

 

“Falling in love took years,” she says, “and neither of us knew what was happening. Then one day, we did, because there was no way this could be anything other than love. Love takes time.”

 

Maria looks pensive, not unconvinced but not fully satisfied either.

 

“I disagree,” Eliza says firmly. “I think you know immediately.”

 

That grabs Maria’s interest as well. Sweet Eliza, _of course_ she’d fall in love at first sight. She only ever sees the best in people, _of course_ she’d look past Alex’s silly dance moves and boasting pride that night and see the little genius with a heart on a silver platter for her to take. Angelica was there and even _she_ was fully persuaded that this was the man Eliza deserved, even after just one night, when she saw how much she cared for him after so little time.

 

“You always knew?” Maria asks timidly.

 

“After three seconds,” Eliza nods. “As soon as our eyes… Then the rest happened like I thought it would after that first moment.”

 

How lucky Eliza is, Angelica thinks. She has fallen in love at first sight before, but that did not end well for her and she’s glad for what she now has with Cosway, if only for that, for it having been organic and spontaneous, besides the thousands of other reasons.

 

“Is there a particular reason you’re asking, huh?” Peggy asks Maria smugly.

 

Maria hums, crocheting a few more stitches before answering.

 

“I, erm, I think I’m at that point with Herc?”

 

“Oh, sweetie!” Eliza coos and gives Maria a hug.

 

“Well, what’s your version then?” Peggy asks, joining the hug, followed by Angelica.

 

“A bit of both, I think? I definitely felt something when I met him…”

 

“ _Oh yeah_ you did,” Peggy teases. “That was adorable.”

 

“But it wasn’t like… It wasn’t _love_ , I don’t think. Not yet.”

 

“But it is now?” Angelica asks, though they all know the answer.

 

Maria nods shyly, which leads to another Peggy initiated Schuyler cuddle pile. It isn’t until Peggy accidentally pokes Eliza with the crochet hook she was still holding that they let go of each other, all of them grinning to their ears.

 

“Well, have you told him?”

 

Maria bites her lip and shakes her head.

 

“I don’t know how.”

 

“How did y’all do it?” Peggy asks.

 

She’s sitting on the floor now, like it’s story time again. Angelica is sorry to disappoint.

 

“We were friends before we were lovers, I told her I loved her many times before it meant anything romantic.”

 

“The first time he told me, Alexander wrote it in the margin of his favorite poem in a book he gave me.”

 

“That is literally the dorkiest thing the smoked Ham has ever done,” Peggy says flatly.

 

Eliza giggles but still hits her with the scarf she’s been crocheting − just because she’s aware of how corny Alex and her are always being doesn’t mean she wants Peggy to taunt them for it.

 

“Okay, so you have two options,” Peggy says as she’s disentangling herself from the scarf. “Both of which are kind of too late to try.”

 

“Mmh.”

 

“You’ll figure it out,” Angelica says and rests a reassuring hand on Maria’s shoulder. “And you’ll be happier for having said it.”

 

“You can do it, Mary!”

 

“We believe in you,” Eliza concludes. “Just be kind and honest.”

 

That night, Angelica receives a single text message, which she is certain was sent to three people.

 

_he loves me back_

 

−−−−−−−−−−

 

The night Maria arrived at the apartment that would lead to her staying there for years, it smelled like popcorn and fresh flowers. When they lived together, all four of them, Eliza kept bunches of flowers by the windows, pot-pourri on the coffee table and the place always smelled fresh. Then Eliza left and the remaining three suddenly took to late night baking. Most mornings, Maria would wake up to smells of cinnamon, citrus, chocolate, berries. Down to just her and Peggy, pizza was a much more frequent meal, because it’s easier to motivate yourself to cook for four people than for two, especially if you have a sister to help you, and it smelled of fast food and pancakes most of the time. Maria’s room always smelled of daisies that Herc gave her, though. And now, the apartment smells of air freshener, cardboard boxes and nostalgia.

 

“Can you believe that none of us will be living her anymore tomorrow?”

 

“Yes we can,” Peggy tells Eliza, “You’ve told us about a hundred times already.”

 

Eliza pouts and Angelica pulls her close, kisses her temple.

 

“The end of an era…” Maria whispers.

 

Somehow the only things still standing are their old set of couches (that Peggy is taking with her in her new studio) and the TV (that Maria is taking to replace Herc’s, which is ridiculously tiny). The rest of the furniture has either been donated or taken away. Maria felt a tug at her heartstrings when their old triple bunk bed got pieced apart and was given away, but she has a better bed now. Rather, it’s better because she shares it with Hercules.

 

“Can we watch a movie?” Peggy asks, her voice sounding so young.

 

“A movie sounds amazing,” Angelica says. “Which one do you want?”

 

“Maria, your pick,” Eliza says at once.

 

Maria looks at their DVD box, a small collection, but it has just the one she wants. She hands it to Angelica, who smiles and puts it in the player. The piano music starts playing and Eliza’s face lights up with recognition.

 

“Pride and Prejudice!”

 

They sit down, Maria on one end of the couch, Peggy on the other, Angelica in her armchair and Eliza at her feet, one last time. Doesn’t it all make sense, in the end, to watch a movie about sisters helping each other find love, to watch the movie she watched the first night she arrived here, to watch a movie all of them love, doesn’t it make sense for them to enjoy this fleeting one last time to the fullest?

 

Whatever tomorrow is bringing is going to be beautiful, for all of them. Things have changed, but they’ve also stayed the same and the love shared by sisters is something that never goes away with age. Tomorrow, Peggy will give back the keys to the owner, Maria will be fully moved in with Hercules, and it’s likely that none of them will ever live together again, not under the same roof. And yet this, what they’re sharing right now, this is forever. Maria is never going to read the same books as Angelica and sharing their ideas on what could be improved and what was flawless in them. She’s never going to stop laughing with Peggy till her ribs hurt and she can’t breathe and hugging her so deep it feels like they’re one person. She’s never going to stop calling Eliza whenever she feels the need to confess, to tell her things she wouldn’t tell anyone else, to be a better person just by being around her. Tomorrow, she’ll be waking up by Hercules, and hopefully every morning after that, but she’s treating herself to one last night to remember this life by.

 

Lizzie finds Darcy and Jane finds Bingley and they knew the ending beforehand, but they enjoyed every step of the way. And isn’t this also what life can be?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you read this and enjoyed it, consider leaving a comment to tell me what you liked :) It really means the world to get feedback. You don't need an AO3 account to leave kudos or post a comment.


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